Today, we worked on solving linear equations (2x + 7 = 13) and followed it with slightly more complex linear equations [ 2(x+3) = 4x + 10 ]. The first set, he seemed to understand or at least understand how to process. Well, actually, he seems able to get to the answers - they normally come out even - in his head and he can't explain how he got there. When we get to the more complex equations, doing it in his head doesn't work quite so well.
So Grandma breaks down the steps. However, doing steps is not fast. Anything not fast is frustrating.
So today, in the middle of all this, David declared, "My head is exploding!" as he held his head in both hands. No doubt he was in serious angst; as nearly as I could tell, nothing actually fell out of his head.
I do the standard thing - get quieter and calmer - when David gets like this, but press him to continue. The most gratifying this is that, every once in a while, when I force him to take the time to do the steps, he will grasp the concept. I know when it happens, and not just from the look on his face. David will look me square in the eye and say, "Thank you," when he gets something that has taken a while to sink in.
Oops
Once in a while, I make a mistake when we're working together. (It happens, OK??) When we figure out it's wrong, David will accuse me, "You're trying to mess me up!!"When the lesson is over, I send homework sheets to Mom, with a key, so she can check his answers. This morning, before I went over, I talked to Mom and she said, "David did really well on his homework this time. Oh, and he found an error YOU made." Apparently, I posed a problem in yards and instead of labelling the answer as "square yards" I labelled it as "square feet." Smart kid, huh?
Today, during one of the "frustrated" periods, David added something new: "I'm going to send YOU homework, Grandma!!"
All in all, a good day, I'd say!
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